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Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami (Available: Oct. 9th, 2018)

In Killing Commendatore, a thirty-something portrait painter in Tokyo is abandoned by his wife and finds himself holed up in the mountain home of a famous artist, Tomohiko Amada. When he discovers a previously unseen painting in the attic, he unintentionally opens a circle of mysterious circumstances. To close it, he must complete a journey that involves a mysterious ringing bell, a two-foot-high physical manifestation of an Idea, a dapper businessman who lives across the valley, a precocious thirteen-year-old girl, a Nazi assassination attempt during World War II in Vienna, a pit in the woods behind the artist’s home, and an underworld haunted by Double Metaphors. A tour de force of love and loneliness, war and art—as well as a loving homage to The Great Gatsby—Killing Commendatore is a stunning work of imagination from one of our greatest writers.

I sounds like another great magical realism thrill ride! I can't wait to get my copy.
Are you as excited about it as I am? You are if you're a big Murakami fan like I am.

I recently got a recommendation to read "The Wind-up Bird Chronicle." What was your favorite Murakami? And what do you particularly like about his writing? (I am interested in anyone's answer, not just crios.)

Well, I think that they are all great. I enjoy the way he maneuvers the reader through the story; the way he presents the odd (magical realism) into the realistic. He is an artist before he is a writer in my book.

It has been a while since the release date, so I wonder if anyone has read this book and write a quick review. I know it's better for a newbie like me to start with his well-known releases, but I want to try a different approach. This kind of fantasy setting is a style I usually like, so it feels just right!

I'm reading his new novel now. I've read 5 of his novels so far, and have all his novels. So, I've read Wind Up Bird Chronicle, 1Q84, Sputnik Sweetheart, Colorless Tazaki, Norwegian Wood and now Killing. I have to say that my favorite so far is a tie between Sputnik and 1Q84, but I've read Tazaki three times. I am enjoying Killing, though only through the first 100 pages so far. I'll go into a more thoughtful discussion of Sputnik and 1Q84 later.

Most of the Killing Commendatore available in our local bookstore are hardbound and I'm still waiting for a paperback copy just like with his Men without Women.